List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Burger Court

This is a partial chronological list of cases decided by the United States Supreme Court during the Burger Court, the tenure of Chief Justice Warren Earl Burger from June 23, 1969 through September 26, 1986.

Case nameCitationSummary Anderson's-Black Rock, Inc. v. Pavement Salvage Co. Standard of nonobviousness in U.S. patent law Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education Delays in school desegregation Goldberg v. Kelly Procedural due process, hearing requirement In re Winship When a juvenile is charged with an act which would be a crime if committed by an adult, every element of the offense must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt Waller v. Florida Collateral estoppel as applied to the same factual situation in criminal trials, double jeopardy Ashe v. Swenson Same as in Waller v. Florida, above Walz v. Tax Commission of the City of New York Tax exemption for churches Rowan v. U. S. Post Office Dept. Addressees have unreviewable discretion to refuse further mail from a given sender; senders do not have a constitutional right to keep someone on a mailing list for unwanted mail Welsh v. United States The meaning of religion in determining conscientious objector status Williams v. Florida Twelve-man jury North Carolina v. Alford Guilty plea in criminal case Oregon v. Mitchell Age and voting rights in state elections Massachusetts v. Laird Court declined to hear a case related to the constitutionality of the Vietnam War Baird v. State Bar of Arizona states cannot ban people from legal practice due to Communist party membership In re Stolar A state cannot require bar applicants to list every organization he or she belonged to since starting law school—decided same day as Baird v. State Bar of Arizona Younger v. Harris Abstention doctrine Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe Judicial review of administrative agency actions Griggs v. Duke Power Co. Employment discrimination; disparate effect of employer practices Haywood v. National Basketball Association Sherman Antitrust Act applied to the NBA Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education Use of busing for school desegregation Richardson v. Perales Physicians' written reports of medical examinations of a disability claimant could constitute "substantial evidence" supportive of finding non-disability under the Social Security Act California v. Byers Statute requiring drivers to provide personal information at the scene of an accident does not infringe on one's Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination United States v. Thirty-seven Photographs Constitutionality of ban on importation of obscene material Coates v. Cincinnati Criminal offenses on sidewalk Cohen v. California Freedom of speech, fighting words/obscenity, “fuck the draft” Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents Implied right of action in the Fourth Amendment Lemon v. Kurtzman Laws without a secular purpose violate the Establishment Clause Clay v. United States Since the Appeal Board gave no reason for the denial of a conscientious objector exemption, petitioner's conviction must be reversed New York Times Co. v. United States Freedom of the press, national security, Pentagon Papers Reed v. Reed Extended Fourteenth Amendment rights to women Parisi v. Davidson Conscientious objector status Papachristou v. Jacksonville Vagrancy ordinance held void for vaguenessFTC v. Sperry & Hutchinson Trading Stamp Co. FTC may act against a company’s “unfair” business practices even though the practice is not an antitrust violation Hawaii v. Standard Oil Co. of California States cannot sue for general economic damage due to violation of antitrust laws Cruz v. Beto Free exercise of religion while in prison custody Commissioner v. First Security Bank of Utah, N.A. Tax reporting for banks prohibited from doing insurance business Eisenstadt v. Baird Privacy, birth control Stanley v. Illinois Men's rights; state cannot make children of unwed widowed fathers wards of the state without a hearing Sierra Club v. Morton Standing in cases in which plaintiffs assert interest in aesthetic or recreational interest in property (in this case, Mineral King area) Wisconsin v. Yoder Freedom of religion, high school education Apodaca v. Oregon State juries may convict a defendant by less than unanimity Jackson v. Indiana Indefinite detention of a defendant incompetent to stand trial violates due process and equal protection Aikens v. California Mootness in a death penalty caseThe Bremen v. Zapata Off-Shore Company Enforceability of a forum selection clause Fuentes v. Shevin Opportunity to be heard Pennsylvania v. New York State of escheat for unclaimed money orders Flood v. Kuhn Baseball and antitrust regulation United States v. U.S. District Court Fourth Amendment, Search and seizure, search warrants, wiretapping Barker v. Wingo Sixth Amendment and speedy trial Lloyd Corp. v. Tanner First Amendment; private property; rights Laird v. Tatum Freedom of speech rights cannot be chilled by the mere existence of government surveillance and data gathering Kois v. Wisconsin Nude photographs accompanying and rationally related to a newspaper story are entitled to constitutional free press protection Furman v. Georgia Death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment; overruled by Gregg v. Georgia Board of Regents v. Roth Procedural due process in firing non-tenured professor Perry v. Sindermann First Amendment; de facto professor tenure Gravel v. United States Protection offered by the Speech or Debate Clause to non-legislative activity Branzburg v. Hayes First Amendment; grand jury, journalists’ rights Kleindienst v. Mandel U.S. Attorney General’s power to deny persons’ entry to the United States Gottschalk v. Benson Computer algorithms not considered patentable subject matter Bronston v. United States Literally truthful statements under oath cannot be prosecuted as perjury even if intent was to mislead questioner United States v. Dionisio Compelled production of voice samples and the Fourth and Fifth Amendment. United States v. Mara aka Marasovich Compelled production of handwriting samples United States v. Glaxo Group Ltd. When a patent is directly involved in an antitrust violation, the government may challenge the patent’s validity Roe v. Wade Abortion, due process, privacy Doe v. Bolton Restrictions on abortion United States v. Florida East Coast Railway Co. Due process right to a hearing when administrative rules are to be changed San Antonio Independent School Dist. v. Rodriguez Equal protection, education Mescalero Apache Tribe v. Jones Indian taxation by states McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Comm'n Indian taxation by states United States v. Russell Active government agent involvement in criminal conspiracy does not constitute entrapment; Rehnquist inadvertently creates possible "outrageous government conduct" standard Frontiero v. Richardson Equal protection, gender discrimination in military dependency regulation Gagnon v. Scarpelli Probation hearings and due process McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green Standard of proof in employment discrimination cases Schneckloth v. Bustamonte Voluntary searches are permissible without the knowledge to refuse them United States v. Students Challenging Regulatory Agency Procedures (SCRAP) Standing to sue Miller v. California Freedom of speech, Miller test for obscenity United States v. 12 200-ft. Reels of Film Ban on importing obscene material stands but material to be reevaluated under Miller test Pittsburgh Press Co. v. Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations Freedom of the press, discriminatory commercial speech in classified advertising Norwood v. Harrison Equal protection does not require equal state assistance to public and private schools and forbids assistance to private schools that discriminate on the basis of race Broadrick v. Oklahoma Overbreadth of Oklahoma statute forbidding political activities by state employees Espinoza v. Farah Mfg. Co. Employers can refuse to hire foreign citizens without violating their civil rights North Dakota State Board of Pharmacy v. Snyder's Drug Stores, Inc. Court upholds North Dakota pharmacy ownership statute against substantive due process attack Lau v. Nichols Foreign-language education and discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur Overly restrictive maternity leave regulations in public schools violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment Schlesinger v. Holtzman Presidential war power United States v. Matlock Fourth Amendment, search and seizure, "co-occupant consent rule" Morton v. Ruiz Administrative law, Bureau of Indian Affairs improperly limited eligibility for general assistance benefits Johnson v. Robison Different benefits for combat veterans and conscientious objectors does not violate equal protection or the free exercise clause Edelman v. Jordan Eleventh Amendment and disability payments Storer v. Brown Political campaign laws Village of Belle Terre v. Boraas Upholding a zoning ordinance which prevented multiple unrelated people from living together Arnett v. Kennedy Due process rights of fired public employees; Rehnquist's "bitter with the sweet" concept of property interests DeFunis v. Odegaard Mootness Bob Jones University v. Simon A private university, notified by the IRS, about a new policy of denying tax-exempt status for private schools with racially discriminatory admissions policies. Petitioner sued for injunctive relief to prevent revocation Geduldig v. Aiello Denial of benefits for work loss resulting from normal pregnancy does not violate the Equal Protection Clause Morton v. Mancari Hiring preferences given by Congress to Native Americans at the Bureau of Indian Affairs are not violative of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Commissioner v. Idaho Power Co. Income tax, capitalization of costs related to acquisition of capital assets Jenkins v. Georgia Obscenity; motion picture Carnal Knowledge Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo Freedom of speech Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. First Amendment and defamation—narrowing New York Times v. Sullivan United States v. Nixon Judicial review, executive privilege, separation of powers Milliken v. Bradley Segregation, busing Taylor v. Louisiana Women cannot be excluded from a jury pool, overturning Hoyt v. Florida Goss v. Lopez Due process in suspending a student from school NLRB v. J. Weingarten, Inc. The Weingarten rights—rights of union members facing disciplinary proceedings Lefkowitz v. Newsome Guilty pleas in state court and federal habeas corpus proceeding United States v. Feola Mens rea requirement for conspiracy is no greater than that for the substantive crime Schlesinger v. Councilman Scope and jurisdiction of courts martial Stanton v. Stanton Different ages of majority in the context of child support did not pass rational basis review regarding equal protection Dunlop v. Bachowski Judicial power and judicial review United States v. Park Criminal liability of chief executive officer of a corporation for the misdeeds of the company Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores Private damages actions under Rule 10b-5 is confined to actual purchasers or sellers of securities Bigelow v. Virginia First Amendment and commercial speech Cort v. Ash Election law, implied cause of action Erznoznik v. City of Jacksonville City ordinance prohibiting the showing of films containing nudity by a drive-in theater violated First Amendment City of Richmond v. United States Limited Richmond, Virginia's right to annex land from surrounding counties Warth v. Seldin Law of standing United States v. Peltier Exclusionary Rule Not Applicable when officer relied on statute subsequently ruled unconstitutional O'Connor v. Donaldson Institutionalization of a non-dangerous mentally ill person Faretta v. California Criminal defendants have the constitutional right to refuse counsel United States v. Brignoni-Ponce The Fourth Amendment requires reasonable suspicion for bo